


Coffee With A Stark

by Northern_Lady



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Attempted Murder, Child Abuse, Deception, Magic, One Shot, Past Abuse, Stark Industries, happy endings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-30
Updated: 2019-01-30
Packaged: 2019-10-19 11:27:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17600456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Northern_Lady/pseuds/Northern_Lady
Summary: Tess Black is the newest candidate for the Stark Internship. She isn't just a regular teen. She is Loki's daughter and she isn't just there for the internship. She's there for revenge.





	Coffee With A Stark

The coffee smelled exactly like coffee. If cyanade had a smell, Tess couldn’t detect it. If she couldn’t detect it, then odds were Tony Stark wouldn’t notice it either. He probably wouldn’t care to notice. Tess could imagine that a man as rich and powerful as Tony Stark probably had people bring him coffee all the time. It was simply part of his routine. And she was just the newest intern, an unimportant high school student who happened to beat the other geeks competing for the position. He would never suspect that she didn’t actually care about the internship for her future career or as an item to put on her resume. He would expect that she was shy and nervous about meeting him for the same reasons everyone else was. He would probably never realize that her hands were shaking and her stomach was in knots because this was the first time she had ever tried to kill anyone. 

She approached his office at 4PM sharp with the Starbucks coffee in hand. The meeting had been planned for well over a week. The cyanide had been obtained months ago along with a carbon nylon dagger that Tess kept in her boot. The building’s metal detectors could still pick up the knife, or could have, if she hadn’t used her magic to help disguise it. Her magic was limited though and not nearly as powerful as her father’s. What little skill she had would be enough in this case, it had to be. 

“Come in,” Stark called out when she knocked lightly on his closed door. 

Tess entered the room and took a quick look around. There were big windows with a view to the city, a large glass top desk, minimal decor on the walls, and she and Tony were not alone. Pepper Potts was there as well sitting in a chair on the far side of the desk near Tony. The two of them stood to shake her hand. Tess placed the coffee on the center of the desk and shook first Pepper and then Tony’s hand. 

“Welcome to the Stark internship,” Pepper said as they took their seats. Tess seated herself at a chair on the side of the desk opposite them. “It’s good to meet you Tess.” 

“It’s good to meet you too,” Tess said, feeling a pang of guilt. Pepper Potts had no part in this. She shouldn’t be here. 

“Well, as you know, only five students were chosen for internship. You met the others in orientation last week,” Pepper continued. She seemed to be running this meeting. That made sense. The orientation had mentioned that the internship had been an idea that Tony had come up with but initially hadn’t taken seriously. It was Pepper who had decided to see it through. She had wanted to give a few intelligent youths from disadvantaged backgrounds a chance to learn some business skills that they might not have otherwise had an opportunity to learn. “Last week you had the chance to learn about the company, now we’d like to learn a little about you.” 

“We’ve already been over your application, or obviously you wouldn’t be here,” Tony continued. “So we’re already aware of the basics. You have good grades. Your Mom doesn’t have a degree. You meet the low income requirement. But this is the part when we tell you that all of that isn’t entirely what this internship is about. My first intern was chosen because he happened to have some special abilities. We know you have some special abilities too. That’s the real reason your here.” 

“I don’t…” Tess began to protest. Was he talking about her magic? How would he even know? And why the deception? “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

Tony turned the computer monitor on his desk to face her. A video was already pulled up on the screen. She knew what it was just based on the paused picture on the screen. She had been crossing a street months ago and with the use of magic had stopped a van from crashing into her. Someone had caught it on video from the sidewalk and posted it on youtube. 

“That’s...that’s fake. People make fake videos all the time,” she said. 

“I might be inclined to agree, if not for the fact that last week at the orientation we got a sample of your DNA.” Tony told her. 

She shook her head. “No, you didn’t. That wouldn’t be legal.” 

“Your mom signed for it. We gave her a lot of documents to sign. She might not have even read them all. Point is, we know that half your DNA isn’t human. Your father wasn’t human. And you don’t look shocked by that news so I think you do have special abilities and you have some practice in using them.” 

It was struggle for Tess to quell the combination of rage and fear that she felt on hearing his words. He knew. He knew she wasn’t fully human and he hoped to do what? Recruit her to the Avengers? Punish her for being who she was? There was no way in hell she would ever be on his team. She wished he would just shut up and drink the coffee. 

“So what if I do?” she finally made herself say, her tone tinged with anger. 

“Tess, you’re not in any trouble,” Pepper said gently. “We started this program because we wanted to help people like you. We could offer training and networking and ethics classes. However, we can’t help you if we don’t know what you can do.” 

Tess took a breath to calm herself. She pulled her long braid of dark hair around to the front fall down her shoulder just to stall for time. 

“I came here to learn business skills,” Tess said. It was an outright lie but she had no interest in giving them the answer to their question. “Any abilities I might have are beside the point.” 

“But you do have them,” Tony prompted. “You don’t have to be an Avenger or a hero or anything like that. If you wanna go be a doctor or a lawyer then feel free. We won’t stop you. If for some reason you want support in using your special abilities, well, that’s the purpose of this program.” 

He was waiting for a reply. She could either take his offer or walk away. He hadn’t had any coffee yet. If she walked away she might never get this close to him again. 

“I have a little magic,” Tess admitted reluctantly. “I have it under control though. I don’t need help.” Now he would try to persuade her that she did. She knew she needed to use the time wisely. She didn’t know how. 

“Do you know where your magic came from?” Pepper asked. 

“My father wasn’t human. My mom said he visited earth looking for mistletoe for a spell. She worked at a Christmas tree farm in the winter and they had some mistletoe and holly and stuff for sale in the farm shop. He stayed around a few days and then he left. She never saw him again.” Tess explained the story as she knew it, leaving out the details. 

“So what sort of magic can you do?” Tony asked. 

Again, Tess hesitated to answer. She could do similar magic to what her father could do. Similar enough that Tony would recognize the description. 

“An answer doesn’t mean you have stay in the program,” Tony explained. “At this point I’m just curious.” 

There was nothing left to do except answer the question. Maybe she could even imply that she did need help and let him convince her to stay in the program. If she stayed in the program she could at least try to get to him again later. 

“Image manipulation. I can change my appearance, change the people around me, create illusions…” she said with a sigh. “I don’t always get it right but I do okay.” 

“That’s a pretty good power to have,” Tony said. 

Then the unthinkable happened. Pepper reached for the coffee on the desk. “I hope you don’t mind if I take this?” She said to Tony. “I think it was meant for you but I had a long night.” 

Tony nodded a reply as he turned the computer monitor back to face him and typed something into the computer. Pepper pulled the lid off the coffee cup. 

“Wait!” Tess cried out as Pepper lifted the cup to her lips. “Don’t drink that…” she said more quietly. 

Pepper set the cup back on the desk looking both worried and confused. “Why not?” 

Tess got to her feet and grabbed the cup, spilling some of the liquid on the desk. “I can’t be part of your program. I should go.” She slapped the lid back on the cup and fled the room. 

***

Tess was still puffy eyed from crying when Tony Stark showed up at her and her Mom’s farmhouse three hours later. Her mom wasn’t home. Well, she was actually out in the barn with the Jerseys. Tess knew before she opened the door that it was Stark and she knew she was probably in a lot of trouble. 

“Why’d you try to poison me?” Tony said, the moment she opened the door and entering her kitchen without being invited. 

“I figured you’d already know by now,” she said, wiping away fresh tears. 

“Well I don’t. I may be a genius but I don’t know everything. Tell me why and I’ll consider not pressing charges.” 

Before she could answer, a male voice called out from the living room. “Who’s at the door?” 

“That’s my Mom’s boyfriend, Hal,” Tess said, at the confused look on Tony’s face. Hal’s name or presence in the household hadn’t been part of the application process to the Stark Internship. The man had always insisted in being left out of anything that involved Tess. She wasn’t his daughter and he wanted no part of any responsibility to her. He did however want a part in telling her what to do in his house. 

“Tell me who’s at the frigging door Tess or I’ll take my belt off and make you speak up!” Hal was yelling from the other room. 

She sighed, resigned to her fate of always being under his thumb, and turned towards the living room doorway. “It’s Mr, Stark. He’s here about the internship.” 

When she turned back to Tony. he looked more concerned than angry. “Just tell me why you put cyanide in the coffee and I’ll be on my way.” 

“I don’t know why…” she sobbed. “Because even if it had worked, it wouldn’t have helped.” 

“What wouldn’t have helped? What the hell is going on here?” Tony continued. 

“My magic comes from my father....my father...my father is Loki...and I was gonna...I was gonna go with him...he sent me a message that he was coming to get me. I was gonna be safe from Hal...and because of you, my father went to prison and I was stuck here…” she said, her voice breaking. 

“Loki was gonna come get you after the Battle of New York? He said that?” Tony didn’t sound like he believed it. 

“Yes,” she whispered the word. “He found out about me a few months before then. My mother didn’t want me to go with him for free so she basically offered to let me go for a price. So he agreed to the price of a few million dollars and left to go get it. I ran out of the house after him and begged him to let me go with him. He was confused about why a child would want to go with a stranger. Then I told him about Hal. Loki went back in the house and when Loki was done with him, Hal spent three weeks in the hospital. He told Hal that if he ever harmed me again, he wouldn’t survive….for a while I was safe, but after New York….” 

“After New York the abuse continued,” Tony said, understanding. “Look, I’m sorry you’ve been through hell kid. I really am. The fact is Loki committed crimes. He had to be stopped. He had to be arrested. Killing me because I played a role in that was never the answer.” 

“I know…” she sobbed. “I don’t think I wanted to kill you. I just want my father back.” 

“That’s not something I can do, but maybe I could get you in touch with your Uncle.” 

“You could?” For the first time in years, Tess felt a glimmer of hope. 

Tony nodded but before he could answer, Hal was on his way into the kitchen. The grisled farmer barely noticed Tony’s presence. Hal went to the fridge, took a look inside, then slammed it shut again. 

“Where’s my case of Bud?” he growled at Tess, clearly already drunk. 

“I don’t know,” Tess said. “Maybe you drank it.” 

“I would remember if I drank it,” Hal said. 

“I doubt that,” Tess mumbled. 

“What did you just say to me?” Hal reached over and grabbed Tess by the neck, shoving her against the kitchen counter. “In this house you will treat your elders with respect.” 

“Hey!” Tony called out, getting the man’s attention for the first time. “Let her go.” 

Hal held on for a moment longer then did as Tony asked, shoving Tess back one last time for good measure before grabbing a bottle of whiskey from the cabinet and stomping out of the room. 

“Nope,” Tony said as soon as Hal was gone. “You can’t stay here. Where’s your mom?” 

“In the barn.” 

“Let’s go find her,” Tony said, heading out the front door. 

Tess followed after him with a protest. “Why? She’s not gonna let me go.” 

“How many million did Loki promise her?” Tony asked as they crossed the distance to the dairy barn. 

“Three. Three million.” 

Tony nodded. “She’ll let you go. I have lawyers. I have money. One way or another, you’re done here if you want to be.” 

Tess stopped short. “Are you serious? I just tried to kill you and now you’re helping me?” 

“You’re Thor’s niece. This is for his sake. And for the fact that I think you should be given a chance to be better. Plus you ended your little murder plot when it came down to it...So if you wanna go, just say the word and I’ll make it happen.” 

Tess felt her breath catch in her throat. She couldn’t believe it. She finally had a way out. The nightmare was over. “I wanna go.” 

Tony nodded, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Let’s go make it happen.”


End file.
